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C2 Recruitment Limited; Bournemouth; Hybrid; GBP 55,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Salary £55-65k

25 days leave

Senior leadership role

Involvement with CEO/Board

Strategic impact

Job summary

C2 Recruitment Limited is seeking a Head of Finance & Corporate Services for an animal welfare charity. The role is hybrid, Dorset-based with occasional travel, and reports to the CEO and Board of Trustees.

You will lead the finance function and oversee HR, IT, procurement and systems improvement while shaping strategy and sustainability. You'll bring professionally qualified accountancy with senior finance experience, offering strategic insight and robust financial governance.

Qualifications

• Professionally qualified accountant with senior finance experience.
• Ability to translate complex financial data into practical advice.
• Experience in charity, not-for-profit, or public sector preferred (SorP).
• Strong governance, controls, audit and risk knowledge.

Responsibilities

• Lead financial strategy, planning, budgeting and forecasting.
• Provide commercial insight to the CEO, SLT and Trustees.
• Produce management accounts, KPIs and financial reporting.
• Oversee cash flow, reserves, treasury and financing.
• Governance, controls, audit and regulatory reporting.
• Lead HR and IT oversight within corporate services.

Skills

Financial leadership

Strategic finance

Forecasting

Management accounting

Stakeholder influence

Education

Professional accounting qualification

Job description

Permanent | Full-time | Hybrid

Dorset - 3 days per week on site, with occasional travel across Dorset and Devon

Use your financial expertise to make a genuine difference

Some finance roles are about the numbers.

This one is about what those numbers make possible.

We are looking for an accomplished

Head of Finance & Corporate Services to join the Senior Leadership Team of a highly respected animal welfare charity at an exciting point in its development.

This is a newly created and influential position, working closely with the CEO and Board of Trustees to help shape the future direction of the organisation.

Alongside leading the finance function, you'll have strategic oversight of key corporate services including HR, IT, procurement and systems improvement.

It's an opportunity for an experienced finance leader to combine commercial thinking with genuine purpose.

The Role

As Head of Finance & Corporate Services, you'll provide the financial leadership, insight and challenge needed to support effective decision-making across the organisation.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Leading financial strategy, planning, budgeting and forecasting
• Providing commercial insight and advice to the CEO, Senior Leadership Team and Trustees
• Producing meaningful management accounts, KPIs and financial reporting
• Developing scenario modelling to support strategic decisions
• Maintaining robust financial controls, governance and risk management
• Leading statutory accounts, audit and regulatory reporting
• Managing cash flow, reserves, legacy income and treasury
• Providing strategic oversight of outsourced HR and IT
• Leading procurement and key supplier relationships
• Supporting digital transformation and improvements to systems and processes
• Leading and developing the corporate services team

This isn't a role where you'll simply report the numbers.

You’ll help determine what they mean, what needs to happen next and how the organisation can continue to develop sustainably.

About You

You'll be a

professionally qualified accountant - ACA, ACCA, CIMA, CIPFA or equivalent - with significant senior-level finance experience.

You'll be comfortable operating strategically while remaining close enough to the detail to understand what's really happening within the organisation.

We're particularly interested in someone who can take complex financial information and turn it into

clear, practical and commercially sound advice.

You’ll also bring:

• Strong financial planning, budgeting and forecasting experience
• Excellent management accounting and financial analysis skills
• Experience of governance, controls, audit and risk
• The confidence to advise, influence and constructively challenge senior stakeholders
• Strong leadership and relationship-building skills
• A collaborative and improvement-focused approach
• Experience within a
• charity, not-for-profit or public sector environment would be advantageous, particularly knowledge of Charity SORP, restricted and unrestricted funds and Trustee-led governance.
• Broader experience involving HR, IT, procurement, systems or digital transformation would also be valuable.

What's on Offer?

• £55,000 - £65,000 salary depending on experience
• 25 days' annual leave plus bank holidays
• A key position within the Senior Leadership Team
• Direct involvement with the CEO and Board of Trustees
• The opportunity to influence strategy and organisational development
• A broad role extending well beyond traditional finance
• The chance to use your professional expertise for an organisation with genuine purpose

Ready for a Finance Role That Means More?

If you've reached the stage in your career where you're looking for more than another set of accounts, this could be the opportunity you've been waiting for.

You'll have the chance to influence strategy, improve how an organisation operates and help ensure an established animal welfare charity is financially strong and ready for its next chapter.

Your expertise won't just improve the bottom line.

It will help an organisation continue doing work that genuinely matters.

If that sounds like the kind of challenge you're looking for, we'd love to hear from you.